29.04.2011

I am still totally shocked, confused and sad....my deepest condolences to all those who are injured and lost family members & friends because of the terrible attack at the Argana in Marrakech yesterday.....

22.04.2011

every day is special but sometimes a day is much more special....why, you may ask now? first of all I will take you with me on a trip in the *past*....

we will take the *vintage* plane today, please fasten your seatbelt -in case you will find one in this plane ;-) ...ready for take off?

soon we will arrive somewhere in the middle east....in the lands with lots of history, endless sky, desert, ancient cultures and inbetween....

there had been a man who travelled, worked there and watched the world in the 50s of the past century and took many pictures....

the man I am talking about was my beloved grandfather.....come with me and see the world through the lens with his eyes :-)

see the *sunlight* dancing on a beach.....a *magic* moment and picture.... :-)

gardens with palm trees and cactus plants passed by....did he felt the same like me when I am watching gardens in the desert?

he watched the *blue*blue* nile......

street construction place.....

in front of the *pyramides*....

did you see the handmade palm leave baskets in the picture?

I remember that he showed me one day this picture and told me that this man had been a very good friend to him, he came from Sudan....

he passed by ancient villages....

and found the camel under a rock arch somewhere in the desert....

the *smiling* camel & I am still smiling about all the camel pictures he took, may he liked the camels may as I like them, too?

I especially love this picture, after watching it several times I saw that the woman is wearing henna painting on her hand :-)

may he enjoyed the wide and open landscape of the desert countries like me?

this blog post is especially dedicated to my beloved grandmother, a very strong, clever and smart woman, I love her smile in this picture so much!

my grandfather passed away two years ago, on 22nd of april....it was his birthday......may he is since two years accompanied all the time with the ones in the picture above?

I realized within the past year much more before that I am may in many ways very similar to him.....the connection between him and me are the desert countries....he also spoke arabic and my mother told me that he had been also very creative...in his way....his personality was sometimes not easy to understand....well....I am also sometimes not easy to understand.....it seems that he had no fear to travel and no fear at all....like me...

I think he was some kind of free *spirit* in his way.....sometimes people wasn´t able to understand him many times because of decisions he made and the way he lived and worked....but I am his granddaughter and I still love him!

Whenever I am travelling, especially to the desert countries I always feel that he is close to me, I am still walking in his footsteps but in a different way.....I am sure that he is smiling many times about my adventures.. :-)

written with all my *love* for my entire family, all of his friends and people who knew him; in memoriam of my beloved grandfather (1925-2009)

a special thanks to my grandmother who gave me 3 of his picture albums! Danke, Oma! :-)

images: taken by my grandfather, co-workers or/and friends in Syria, Egypt and Iraq & other countries he had been.

19.04.2011

I don´t remember exactly the year when I felt in *love* and started collecting the beautiful,
shimmering, handloomed Ikat fabrics from Uzbekistan in vibrant colours....I think I had in my hands 10 years ago the first time one piece of it and it always made me dreaming far, far away....

so I had the idea for sewing more of this *pretty* cushions and found finally a few weeks ago one day the time to make it, perfect for *spice* up any room with the colours of the legendary *silkroad*...and they go as well good with any magic carpet in your home! :-)

17.04.2011

may you are asking how my friends managed the *kitchen* in the desert? here we go....:-)

in case there is no wood for fire to find we had a gas bottle with us....

eggs are carried in a simple & cool looking package... :-)

because....because the *girl* wished one day to have a simple *omelette* for lunch...

washing the dishes....*sahara* style!

kitchen equipment should be always placed on *pretty* rock kitchen interior....where can I please order this kitchen furniture exactly in this design for my home??

fresh ingredients straight from the *djanet souk* for picnic :-)

*tagella* bread preparing....

and how to spice up the chicken if there is no mortar & pestle to find in the desert? take 1 empty plastic water bottle, garlic, salt, grounded cumin and a hint of *olive oil* fill it in the bottle and *smash* it well against the *rocks* ....

and here we have the *desert* barbecue :-)

the super delicious result....*yummy*

finally one day...I found 2 teapots who probably felt in *love* with each other....me, still smiling :-)

my friends are great in cooking and I enjoyed every single breakfast, lunch and dinner 3 weeks every day so much!! *tanemert hullan* means thank you very much in tuareg language :-)

*happy sahara cooking*

P.S.: my january trip to the desert in algeria was perfect organized by Mohammed Hassani, visit his website desertconvoy for more informations in case you wish to spend a relaxing time in the *sahara* :-)

a few nights before my friends explained me the name of stars in the night sky....stars named *chet ehad* in tuareg language means *night woman*....I am fascinated by these words and piece by piece like a puzzle on this day the *inspiration* became a clear picture in my mind....a picture of colours, structures and embroidery...precious fabrics and something hand dyed.....but...it takes time....*desert* time :-)

10.04.2011

woke up again this morning around 5....watched a little bird collecting wool I hanged up for drying outside....there had been a serious moff attack in a basket with my moroccan wool. I am officially in war now with these little flying, silk & wool eating insects....by the way..the colour of them is pretty....pretty light *silver*...! :-)

So I washed the wool a few days ago and it looks like that they are gone...the wool is still outside and *lucky* little birds use it for creating nests :-) it makes me smiling!
In case I am listening one morning birds tweeting in moroccan language....the *wool therapy* worked well.....thoughts I had in my mind on this very early sunday morning....!

I also had my first *morocco* visit years ago in my mind, watched little sparrows collecting wool from the heavy, handloomed curtains in my friend´s hotel in Essaouira :-)
I will go back for work to morocco in a few weeks......can´t wait to be back again in my beloved *Essaouira*....

well...I will not doing much today, still feeling a bit tired & exhausted, had been sick since thursday so it is better to start everything slowly...*choya b´choya*....as the moroccans saying...

*happy sunday* :-)

images: petra hassan

P.S.: I am thankful for every little sign & message I received the past weeks from libyan friends, so glad that they are still fine but noticed the change in the voices...